CFM,

Good point on the # of gill netters on the lower Columbia, case in point ; I had several discussions with the Barrier Dam Salmon hatchery personnel this summer between May and August and every time and I mean every time I talked to them about the fall Coho Run estimates they doubled or dam near, here is a quick accounting of what I was told in May around 60k returns, June approx 120k returns, July 180k and finally August 200+ returns and these were RETURNS TO THE BARRIER DAM. Needless to say I started booking "Record Runs of Coho on the Cowlitz" boy did I end up with egg on my face. I was so p*ssed off I wrote a blazing letter about all of the fish being caught by the Gill Netters and not even making it the sportsman to Koenings head of WDFW of course I got a form letter back that was all fluff. Oh by the way I caught more jacks in some of my trips than I would normally catch in a normal Coho season and coincidentally most of the Jacks had net marks which tells me because of their size they escaped and the larger adults didn't, I think the unusually high number of Jacks should give us all a good idea of how large the run should have been!